Hong Kong: Life beyond Joe Schmidt at the Wallabies was something Rugby Australia didn’t want to consider, but Irish rugby great Brian O’Driscoll believes the men in gold are well positioned moving forward with whoever takes over the top coaching job later this year.
Although Schmidt will coach the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions, the New Zealander, who spent a decade in the Emerald Isle coaching Leinster and Ireland, will step down in October following The Rugby Championship.
Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss has long been considered the front-runner to succeed Schmidt, while The Roar revealed last week that former England head coach and Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster was also in contention for the role.
It’s understood Michael Cheika, who made his name turning around O’Driscoll’s Leinster side in the noughties, isn’t in contention despite meeting Rugby Australia chief-executive Phil Waugh meeting the former Wallabies and Argentina coach earlier this year in Sydney.
Few people can speak with the authority of O’Driscoll when it comes to breaking down the coaching candidates in the mix for the Wallabies role.
Not only was O’Driscoll coached by Cheika, but the magnificent outside-centre also played under Kiss and Schmidt during the latter half of his career.
O’Driscoll also watched Lancaster with interest during the ex-England boss’s long stint at Leinster, where he revolutionised the club’s attack that flowed into the national setup.
“Geez, there’s three good names in the mix,” O’Driscoll told The Roar at the Hong Kong Sevens, where the Irish legend was in attendance at Kai Tek Stadium in his role as a Global HSBC Ambassador.
Global HSBC Ambassador Brian O’Driscoll says Rugby Australia has some strong candidates to succeed Joe Schmidt. Photo: Supplied
O’Driscoll did, however, express his surprise that Cheika wasn’t strongly being considered to return to the role he held between 2014 and 2019.
“I do cover a lot of Premiership rugby, and what he’s doing in Leicester at the moment is pretty good,” the former Ireland captain said.
“I’d say he was the most influential coach, just from a timing point of view, with me.
“Cheik changed the fortune, not just of Leinster rugby, but Irish rugby because he got Leinster to turn a corner, totally recreated a culture.
“He kind of did a little bit of that first time around with Australia, and I could see him doing a great job again.
“Sometimes when there’s unfinished business, I could understand why you want to come back for a second bite of the cherry.”
Brian O’Driscoll says Michael Cheika was the most influential coach on his career. (Photo by Craig WatsonSNS Group via Getty Images)
But given Cheika’s messy final two years in charge of the Wallabies and the ugly homecoming of Eddie Jones in 2023, it’s thought that not enough water has gone under the bridge for Rugby Australia to return to the former Randwick coach.
“I sense there’d be a better outcome with Cheik coming back a second time around than maybe Eddie,” O’Driscoll quipped.
“But, you know what, even with Kissy and Cheik, and I don’t know who else’s name is in the hat, you could do a lot worse than either of those guys.
“They bring plenty of experience, good people person skills, which is a big component of being a coach as well. It’s one thing knowing all the football, but you spend a lot of time in camp, you’ve got to be able to connect people with people, and both of them could do that well.”
Kiss spent six years with Ireland as the side’s defence coach between 2009 and 2015 and O’Driscoll said the former Queensland winger had made a positive impact on his career.
“I had Les for a very successful period,” O’Driscoll said.
“He was involved in our first Grand Slam in 2009. So, great memories, really good guy.
“I’m sure he’s developed and honed his coaching skills, and is an infinitely different coach than he was back then, even though he was a great coach.
“So, as a head coach, I’m sure there’s parts to what he’s built his repertoire with, that I’m not up to date with, but he was a bloody good defensive coach.
“He understood the game well, on both sides of the ball.
“If he’s a favourite, it’d be deserved.”
Les Kiss was an assistant with Ireland at two World Cup campaigns. (Photo by Sportsfile/Corbis/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Lancaster’s emergence as a candidate has shocked many, but O’Driscoll said he was very impressed by the former England coach’s impact at Leinster where he worked under Leo Cullen as the side’s senior coach.
He added that Leinster and Ireland had dropped off since he left the club in 2023.
“Another really good guy, great rugby brain,” O’Driscoll said.
“He built a huge amount of the foundation work in the multi-phase game that Leinster were playing and that Ireland brought in and incorporated.
“Now that he’s gone from Leinster, there’s been a fall-off from it because it’s not being practised on a weekly basis.
“I think that’s been very evident, and I think it’s almost, not single-handedly down to him, but very much his mark that he left, and then when he was gone, there was another mark left around the work not done.
“So, I think he would be another great guy.
“Good thinker of the game, sees it very well, was very generous with me in his time at Leinster, around staying connected to the game, and I was super impressed with his overall understanding of oppositions and how he analysed teams.”
Rugby Australia is hoping to name Schmidt’s successor early next month.
Christy Doran travelled to the Hong Kong Sevens thanks to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Cathay Pacific and The Langham.
